Hair transplantation procedures are well-known, and typically involve harvesting donor hair grafts from a patient's scalp, and implanting them in a bald area (“recipient area”). In one well-known process, singular follicular units are harvested utilizing a hollow needle punch having a cutting edge and an interior lumen with a diameter, for example, of 1 mm. The needle punch is axially aligned with an axis of a follicular unit to be extracted and then advanced into the scalp to cut the scalp about the circumference of the selected follicular unit. Thereafter, the follicular units are removed, e.g., using forceps, for subsequent implantation into a recipient site with a specially devised insertion needle.
Automated hair transplantation systems utilizing a robot, including a robotic arm and a hair follicle introducer associated with the robotic arm are also known.